CCSU: Suspect in Custody; Campus Gets the "All-Clear"

A photo posted to Twitter at 2:35 pm on Monday showed what appeared to be an arrest at CCSU, following a lockdown.

Credit Olivia Maffucci

Central Connecticut State University in New Britain states that a suspect is in custody, and the school has given an "all clear" to people on campus following a three-hour lockdown Monday afternoon. The school's official campus website earlier told students and personnel to “get inside buildings and stay in place.”

While at Central, WNPR's Patrick Skahill said students were told that the focus of the police investigation was James Hall, a dormitory on campus. The school confirmed that in a tweet just after 1:30 pm on Monday.

Eyewitnesses said that campus security told students to stay in place at the student center at around noon. In a tweet just after 2:00 pm on Monday, CCSU said "police are looking for a man who reportedly was carrying a gun."

Skahill spoke with WNPR's Ray Hardman just after 2:00 pm on Monday. "The police presence is very strong here right now," Skahill said, with police support coming from nearby towns such as Newington and West Hartford. Listen below.

Earlier, around 12:30 pm, McLaughlin said, "We're in the middle of a campus emergency and, at the moment, all I can say is that an emergency has been declared. We have told the entire campus to seek shelter, to shelter in place. We don't have any further information at this time."

CCSU spokesman says there's been "no word of an active shooter." Confirms shelter in place order for campus. @CCSU

Asked whether the incident involved a shooter, McLaughlin said this: "There has been no word of an active shooter."

Shortly after noon on Monday, the CCSU website was carrying an alert message that replaced its entire website. The image was updated over the course of a few hours, until shortly before 3:00 pm, when the site was returned to normal. McLaughlin told WNPR that the school's policy is to "take down the whole website" for an emergency message. To the best of his knowledge, McLaughlin said, the website for CCSU has not been hacked.

Some tweets from the school notified the public about the emergency:

Campus emergency. Seek shelter. Lock doors, close windows. We will communicate when we have more info.This is not a drill. #ccsu